The non-Indo-European substrate theory was first proposed by Sigmund Feist in 1932, who estimated that roughly a third of Proto-Germanic lexical items came from a non-Indo-European substrate and that the supposed reduction of the Proto-Germanic inflectional system was the result of pidginization with that substrate.[1] Which culture or cultures may have contributed the substrate material is an ongoing subject of academic debate and study. Notable candidates for possible substrate culture(s) are the Maglemosian and Funnelbeaker culture but also older cultures of northern Europe like the Hamburgian or even the LRJ (Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician).

Against the theories regarding substrata, a profound sound change in the Germanic languages known as Grimm's law has been put forward as evidence for the Germanic languages being non-substratic and having mutated of their own accord, away from other branches of Indo-European. Grimm's law affected all of the stops that were inherited from Proto-Indo-European. The Germanic languages also share common innovations in grammar as well as in phonology: The Germanic verb has been extensively remodelled, showing fewer grammatical moods, and markedly fewer inflections for the passive voice.[2][3]

The non-Indo-European substrate hypothesis attempts to explain the anomalous features of proto-Germanic as a result of creolization between an Indo-European and a non-Indo-European language. Germanicist John A. Hawkins sets forth the arguments for a Germanic substrate. Hawkins argues that the proto-Germans encountered a non-Indo-European speaking people and borrowed many features from their language. He hypothesizes that the first sound shift of Grimm's Law was the result of non-native speakers attempting to pronounce Indo-European sounds, and that they resorted to the closest sounds in their own language in their attempt to pronounce them. The Battle-axe people are an ancient culture identified by archaeology who have been proposed as candidates for the people who influenced Germanic with their non-Indo-European speech. However, this culture was spread through a wider range of regions across eastern and central Europe close or in contact already with areas inhabited by Indo-European speakers and the putative area of origin of these, and none of the proto-Indo-European languages produced so and their succeeding languages developed - whether Celto-Italic, Illyrian, Slavic, Baltic and others - along the much larger line of extension of the Boat-axe culture appear to have been affected by the same changes limited to the Proto-Germanic. Alternatively, in the framework of the Kurgan hypothesis, the Battle-axe people may be seen as an already "kurganized" culture built on the substrate of the earlier Funnelbeaker culture.

A number of root words for modern European words seem to limit the geographical origin of these Germanic influences, such as the root word for ash (the tree) and other environmental references suggest a limited root stream subset which can be localized to northern Europe.[4]

Kalevi Wiik, a phonologist, has put forward a hypothesis – generally rejected by specialists in the field, however – that the pre-Germanic substrate was of a non-Indo-European Finnic origin. Wiik claimed that there are similarities between mistakes in English pronunciation typical of Finnish speakers and the historical sound changes from Proto-Indo-European to proto-Germanic.[5][6] Wiik's argument is based on the assumption that only three language groups existed in pre-Indo-European Europe, namely Uralic, Indo-European, and Basque, corresponding to three ice age refugia. Then, Uralic speakers would have been the first to settle most of Europe, and the language of the Indo-European invaders was influenced by the native Uralic population, producing the Germanic proto-language.[5][6]

Existing evidence of languages outside the three refugia that he proposes (e. g., the Tyrsenian language family) creates a complication for Wiik's theory, meaning it relies upon an undemonstrated link between each of these languages and one of the three proto-languages he proposes. Moreover, his thinking relies on an interpretation of Indo-European origins different from the mainstream, and most damningly, an extremely improbable picture of the linguistic landscape of Neolithic Europe.

Theo Vennemann has hypothesized a Basque substrate and a Semitic superstrate in Germanic;[4] however, his speculations, too, are generally rejected by specialists in the relevant fields.

Hawkins moreover asserts that more than one third of the native Germanic lexicon is of non-Indo-European origin, and again points to the hypothetical substrate language as the cause. Certain lexical fields are dominated by non-Indo-European words according to Hawkins. Seafaring terms, agricultural terms, engineering terms (construction/architecture), words about war and weapons, animal and fish names, and the names of communal and social institutions are centers of non-Indo-European words according to Hawkins. Some English language examples given by Hawkins include

Seafaring

English

German

Dutch

Icelandic

Latin

Greek

Russian

sea

See

zee

sjór

mare

άλς
(áls)

море
(morè)

ship

Schiff

schip

skip

navis

νάυς
(náus)

плот (судно, корабль)
(plot (sudno, korabl'))

strand (beach)

Strand

strand

strönd

litus, acta

αιγιαλός
(aigialós)

берег
(bèrèg)

ebb

Ebbe

eb

efja

decessus, recessus

άμπωτις
(ámpōtis)

отлив
(otliv)

steer

steuern

sturen

stýra

guberno

κυβερνώ
(kubernṓ)

управлять
(upravljat')

sail

segeln

zeilen

sigla

navigo

πλέω
(pléō)

плавать
(plavat')

keel

Kiel

kiel

kjölur

carina

τροπίς
(tropís)

киль
(kil')

north

Norden

noorden

norður

septentriones

βορράς
(borrás)

север
(sèvèr)

south

Süden

zuiden

suður

australis, meridies

νότος
(nótos)

юг
(jug)

Warfare/weapons

English

German

Dutch

Icelandic

Latin

Greek

Russian

sword

Schwert

zwaard

sverð

gladius (ensis, ferrum)

ξίφος
(ksíphos)

меч
(mèch)

shield

Schild

schild

skjöldur

scutum

ασπίς
(aspís)

щит
(shchit)

helm(et)

Helm

helm

hjálmur

galea

κράνος
(krános)

шлем
(shlèm)

bow

Bogen

boog

bogi

arcus

τόξον
(tókson)

лук
(luk)

Animal/Fish

English

German

Dutch

Icelandic

Latin

Greek

Russian

eel

Aal

aal

áll

anguilla

χέλι
(khéli)

угорь
(ugor')

calf

Kalb

kalf

kálfur

vitulus

μόσχoς
(móskhos)

телёнок
(tèl'onok)

lamb

Lamm

lam

lamb

agnus

αμνός
(amnós)

ягнёнок
(jagn'onok)

bear

Bär

beer

björn

ursus

άρκτος
(árktos)

медведь
(mèdvèd')

stork

Storch

stork(archaic)

storkur

ciconia

πελαργός
(pelargós)

аист
(áist)

Communal

English

German

Dutch

Icelandic

Latin

Greek

Russian

king

König

koning

konungur/kóngur

rex

βασιλεύϛ
(basileús)

король, князь
(korol', kn'az')

knight*

Knecht

knecht

knakkur

servitus

ὑπηρέτης
(upērétēs)

слуга
(sluga)

thing

Ding

ding

þing

res

πράγμα
(prágma)

вещь
(vèshch')

Miscellaneous

English

German

Dutch

Icelandic

Latin

Greek

Russian

drink

trinken

drinken

drekka

bibo

πίνω
(pínō)

пить
(pit')

leap (run)

laufen

lopen

hlaupa

curro

τρέχω
(trékhō)

бегать
(bègat')

bone

Bein (meaning leg)

been (meaning bone or leg)

bein

os

οστούν
(ostoún)

кость
(kost')

wife (woman)

Weib

wijf

víf

uxor

γυνή
(gunḗ)

жена
(zhèna)

bride

Braut

bruid

brúður

nupta

νύφη
(núphē)

невеста
(nèvèsta)

(bride)groom

(Bräuti)gam

(bruide)gom

(brúð)gumi

maritus

γαμπρός
(gamprós)

жених
(zhènix)

Notes:

The common Dutch word for "stork" is ooievaar, but the older word stork still exists in dialects.[7]

knight/Knecht/knecht/knight are all related, but in German and Dutch they mean "servant", which is presumed to be the original meaning, whereas in English and Swedish they refer to a specific type of nobleman.[8]

German Bein and Dutch been mean both "leg" and "bone". (In German, but not in Dutch, the meaning "bone" is archaic.)

German Weib and Dutch wijf mean "woman" in general (not restricted to "spouse"). Nowadays both are pejorative. The replacing words are Frau and vrouw respectively.

Many of Hawkins's purported non-etymologies are controversial. One obvious way to refute the Germanic substrate hypothesis is to find Indo-European etymologies for the words on Hawkins's list. This process continues, but several cited as examples by Hawkins can likely be eliminated. For example, it is generally agreed that helmet represents IE *kel-, "a concealing covering" (cf. Thracianzelmis - "skin", Old Prussiansalmis - "helm"). East relates to IE *h2eus-ro-, "dawn".

Some of the words may have Indo-European derivations that are simply not well preserved in other Indo-European languages. For example, it has been suggested that wife is related to Tocharian Bkwipe, "pubes; vulva", from a reconstructed root *gʷʰíh2bʰo-. Other possible etymologies include:

ebb: from *h2epo "off, away"

north: from *nr̥tro- which is in turn from *ner- "under, on the left," north being to one's left when facing the rising sun.

south: from *sunto- which is in turn from *sun-, from the oblique stem of *sóh₂wl̥ "the sun"

west: from *westo- which is in turn from *wes-, reduced form of *wespero "evening"

groom: (as in bridegroom) from *(dh)ghm̥on which is the zero-grade suffixed form of *dʰgʰom- "earth". The word bridegroom derives from Middle English bridegome and Old English brȳdguma, a compound of brȳd 'bride' and guma 'man'. The intrusive r in Modern English bridegroom is due to contamination with the word groom (of different meaning), the origin of which is unknown.

king: The cyn- part is cognate with Modern English "kin" and related to Latin genus, etc., from *ǵenh1- "beget, engender". Even the derivation has IE parallels, such as Hittite ḫaššu- "king" from ḫāš-, ḫašš- "engender".

Similarly, the word "bear" may not be unique to Germanic languages. In Russian, a bear's lair is berloga, sometimes etymologized as "the lair of ber". Others hold that berloga could be derived from a proto-Slavic word for 'swamp' that also influenced the originally West Slavic origin of the city name Berlin as a "town built on swampy grounds". A number of Slavic languages have cognates of medved for "bear", which meant "honey-eater" < *medʰu + *ed- (though was later taken to mean "honey-knower" by folk etymology). This suggests that a possible ancient Slavic word ber may have been replaced by a euphemism (although the older Slavic word predating ber for a bear was "oster" as in the Oster River in Ukraine[citation needed]). However, supporters of the Germanic substrate hypothesis such as Max Vasmer explain the obvious relation between berloga and the Germanic word for 'bear' by the fact that early Old Norse influences on East Slavic languages cannot be disregarded — see the prevalent Normanist theory regarding the Varangian origin of the Rus people from Scandinavia, from whom also the name of Russia is derived.

Calvert Watkins's 1969 appendix of Indo-European roots in the American Heritage Dictionary listed several roots that were believed to be unique to Germanic at that time. More recent editions have substantially reduced the number of roots claimed to be uniquely Germanic.

More recent treatments of Proto-Germanic tend to reject or simply omit discussion of the Germanic substrate hypothesis. Joseph B. Voyles's Early Germanic Grammar makes no mention of the hypothesis, nor do many recent publications on the Germanic language family.

Nonetheless, the hypothesis remains popular in some circles, such as the Leiden school of historical linguistics. The first etymological dictionary of any language to systematically take the hypothesis into its discussions is the new Dutch dictionary influenced by the thinking of the Leiden group: Marlies Philippa et al. (ed), Etymologisch woordenboek van het Nederlands, Amsterdam University press, in 4 volumes, 2003–2009.

As this map of Indo-European isoglosses shows, the Proto-Germanic language is classified as a centum language (green border), but also shares phonological properties with the Baltic and Slavic languages (pink border) which are satem languages.

This hypothesis may help to explain difficulties in the classification of Germanic languages. They are classified as Centum languages, because of the sound correspondences, exemplified in the formations *hund- (e.g. "hundred", ~ centum with a velar fricative according to Grimm's law) and *hwis(e.g. "who", ~ Latin quis), rather than !sund and !his respectively. However, the Germanic languages, in common with the Baltic and Slavic families, both of which are Satem, is more likely to feature -m- (as opposed to *-bh-) in instrumental, dative, and ablative plurals, as well as certain singulars and duals. (See the map of Indo-European isoglosses, right.)

However, the above features may just as easily be explained by a non-Indo-European substrate common to proto-Germanic and proto-Balto-Slavic.

^Not all consider languages such as Sanskrit to be conservative. Prokosch (1939) wrote: "the common Indo-European element seems to predominate more definitely in the Germanic group than anywhere else."

^In regards to this issue, Polomé (1990) wrote: "Assuming 'pidginization' in Proto-Germanic on account of the alleged 'loss' of a number of features reconstructed by the Neogrammarians as part of the verbal system of Proto-Indo-European (...) is a rather specious argument. ... The fairly striking structural resemblance between the verbal system of Germanic and that of Hittite rather makes one wonder whether these languages do not actually represent a more archaic structural model than the further elaborated inflectional patterns of Old Icelandic and Hellenic."